Automatic feeders have become part of modern automated animal production operations. These feeders cut down on the labor required while at the same time more accurately controlling the amount and disbursement rate of such feeding.
For large animals, such as hogs, stainless steel feeders have been developed which include hoppers that act as a reservoir for the feed and adjustable feed gates which communicate between the interior and exterior of the hopper and control the supply of feed passing therethrough. Threaded adjustment rods with cranks allow the feed flow to be adjusted by cranking the feed gates either up or down. Once the proper position of the feed gate is achieved, the U-shaped crank handles are pivoted downwardly which allow them to drop on either side of a channel bar across the top of the hopper and to engage the same.
So long as the animals do not gain access to the now inverted U-shaped crank handles that lie in engagement with the supporting channel means, the gate feed adjusting means works fine.
With some animals, particularly with hogs which tend to get bored during feeding and look for any type of diversion, they will crawl up on the feeder and quite often will engage the U-shaped crank in its inverted, locked position and will move it upwardly to a point that the same can be rotated. This causes either an increase or decrease in the flow of feed past the feed gate from the hopper to the feeding trough adjacent thereto.
The above is not only undesirable in that it throws off control of the right amount of food for the animals being fed, but also causes the use of the feeders to be more labor intensive because of having to check the feed gates periodically for proper adjustment.